


The Witch and the Nerd

by wuya626



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Witchcraft, canon divergence from 10.21
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wuya626/pseuds/wuya626
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the speech," Rowena mocked, turning in her chair to face Charlie and crossing her arms. "I'm telling you, it's a bad idea. Neither of us know what this could bring,"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Short prologue, I know, but the official first chapter will be much longer. Enjoy!

It was about an hour since Castiel had left the two alone again. Charlie was enjoying the momentary silence, trying her best to focus on the lines of code in front of her as she worked through a block in the text. For awhile, the sound of her nimble fingers dashing from key to key emitted the only noise in the room, but then  _she_  had to start fidgeting with her little pile of bones again. The air carried the distracting clacking of the small objects as Rowena picked one and then dropped it back into the pile. The singular sound was easy enough to tune out, but as time went on she started to grab more than one and send them cascading from her palms onto the few remaining bones on the table underneath. It would be quiet for a few moments, then the action would be repeated. Charlie repressed an aggravated groan as she typed on her keyboard with slightly more force, annoyed at the woman's constant distraction.

"You are an immature child," she muttered from behind her tablet, but Rowena seemed to catch the words.

"And yet you're the one who's getting all upset," she retorted mockingly.

"I'm trying to focus. Unlike you, I actually care,"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the speech," Rowena mocked, turning in her chair to face Charlie and crossing her arms. "I'm telling you, it's a bad idea. Neither of us know what this could bring,"

Charlie didn't reply. She knew the witch would twist anything she said against her, and it was pointless trying to argue with Rowena. If Charlie was telling the truth, she thought it was a bad idea as well. It was some old, dark magic they were working with, and though the witch was experienced in that sort of thing, she knew deep down Rowena had to be a little scared. They were both out of their pay grade with that book, and their lives weren't guaranteed at that point.

Rowena scoffed, taking the silence as proof that she was right. "See? We both could die. Probably will." There was a pause, and when she spoke again her voice had altered slightly, taking on a mischievous tone. "You know, Mr. Tall and Mighty should be coming back soon. We still have the chance to run away if we want, before he gets back. We could get out of here and live. I could even teach you a bit of real magic if you want,"

Charlie ignored her words. No matter what, she knew she would see this through to the end. For the Winchesters and for the safety of everyone. Now, the temptation of powers―she's read enough to know that never goes well. Rowena was all around untrustable as well, not to mention somewhat technically the enemy. As cool as it would be to be a witch, Charlie knew that it wouldn't be like she imagined. Real witchcraft, at least what she had seen of it, was a bit too malicious for her liking, and the people who use it never seemed to turn out okay.

Determined to shake the topic from her mind and make progress in her assignment, she returned her gaze to the computer and noticed that in one of the photos, a symbol at the bottom was partially cut out of the frame. Charlie stood up, annoyed at the minor setback. The chair creaked as she pushed it aside to give her the room to returned to Rowena's table with her phone to get a better picture.

The creaking of another chair was carried on the air and as Charlie turned to see what the woman was up to, the witch was right there, mere inches from her.

"What do you―" she was stunned into silence as Rowena rested her hands on either side of the table behind Charlie, trapping her in place.Her heart was beating out of her chest and she felt a strange rush of fear and excitement surge through her. There was strength and confidence in the witch's expression, and in that instant, as the her eyes bore down into the mortal's own, Charlie truly understood how dangerous Rowena really was. She radiated power, and had the girl right under her fingertips.

"You know, we've both been working pretty hard," the witch began, moving her right hand up to Charlie's shoulder and trailing her fingertips down the girl's arm, sending chills down her spine. "I think it's time for a little study break,"

Charlie knew it was some sort of trap. She knew that if she let something happen, she would likely regret it later. But she couldn't lie to herself. She did find Rowena attractive, and that compromising position made it very hard to think of much else. Rational thoughts slipped away, and when the witch closed the distance between them Charlie didn't think twice about returning the kiss.

Rowena gripped the collar of the girl's unbuttoned dress shirt and pulled her in closer, fingers ghosting over her neck before slipping under the thin material and pushing it down off of Charlie, bearing the Legend of Zelda tee she wore underneath it. The kiss was fervent and deep, and left her head reeling. The witch pushed her tongue past Charlie's lips and the girl welcomed it, only putting up slight resistance to test how much control Rowena would allow. The answer was next to none, but Charlie had already thrown caution to the wind and decided to deal with the consequences later. She made a move to embrace the witch, but Rowena thwarted it, instead gripping her wrists and pinning them to the table behind her. She used the opportunity to grind into Charlie, who let out a muffled moan into the kiss. This only seemed to encourage Rowena; she abandoned her grip on Charlie's wrist to cup her ass instead, pressing the girl firmly against her.

Charlie was so distracted, she didn't notice the door open. Didn't pay attention to who entered, nor how much they saw. All that existed was her and Rowena in their own private world, absorbed in each other, until somebody cleared their throat nervously. Both of them froze, and Charlie was sure her heart was jumping out of her chest. Nobody that could be standing there watching the two of them could be anyone she would want seeing that. Regret flooded through her as she pushed the witch away from her, though whether it was because of what they were about to do or the fact that they got caught, Charlie didn't know. She turned to see who it was, despite a strong urge to just lock herself in the next room over and pretend nothing happened.

Standing in the middle of the room with a horrified look, was Castiel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates probably won't be often, but they will happen. I promise. Chapters still short but it happens.

"Um, it's not what it looks like?" Charlie tried to explain, but it came out as more of a question than a statement. She looked to Rowena for help, but the witch merely shrugged and sat back in her chair. Figures.

"Really?" doubt flooded Castiel's face, and Charlie's stomach sank. "Would you like to explain what it was?"

There's no way that was going to end well. Rowena sat with her legs crossed, looking up at Charlie smugly as if awaiting her explanation as well. She glared at the witch before pulling Castiel aside, wanting to be as far away from her as possible. The girl still didn't understand why Rowena did something like that. She may have been trying to get Charlie caught with her, but then what would the motivation for that be? It could have been meant to create distrust between her and the others, but the only result would be that they'd both be kept under closer watch, so that theory was out. She knew Rowena was smarter than that. There wasn't anything on her person that the witch would be after either. Maybe Rowena was just trying to mess with her head. That seemed very possible, as she was warned that the woman tended to be tricky to deal with.

Charlie wished more than almost anything at that moment that she could take back her stupid actions. She mentally kicked herself for the mistake, trying to recall what even prompted her to act in the first place. It was aggrivation at the witch that left her vulnerable; she should never have let herself get so riled up in the presence of someone so powerful. So what if she couldn't use her magic while chained up? Rowena was still very cunning and dangerous without it.

"Look, Castiel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of that to happen. My emotions got the better of me and she took advantage of it," she told him.

"And that is the truth?"

"Yes, Castiel, of course. I wouldn't lie to you, nor would I willingly do anything like that with her,"

The angel studied her for a second before nodding. "Rowena is tricky, even without her powers. Don't let her get to you again,"

"I won't. I'm much calmer now," she wasn't, but she certainly had herself under control. "I think maybe some water and a snack is a good idea,"

"Of course. I put them on the table," Castiel told her, but still held some suspicion in his features. Unfortunately, there was nothing Charlie could think to do to reassure him right now.

The two returned to the main area and saw that Rowena was messing with the bones again, but at Charlie's request they were taken away from her. The witch protested, but they both ignored her. Charlie snapped the picture of the codex page she had originally went over for and returned to her seat with the bag of snacks, ready to refocus. Castiel remained in the room for awhile trying to get Rowena to work, but she refused, sitting in her seat with her arms crossed and an unamused look on her face. Eventually Castiel gave up, instructing Charlie to call him if she needed anything and then disappearing. 

The room remained silent for hours as she worked and Rowena pouted. The events from that evening didn't relent their constant seige on her attention, making the girl feel sick to the stomach with shame as she mentally reviewed the way she acted. Eventually when she couldn't focus on the computer screen any longer, Charlie returned to her makeshift bedroom. The small bit of space was occupied by her dufflebag and backpack, and a sleeping bag and pillow spread out on the floor. She laid there for awhile trying to purge the thoughts from her mind, and after awhile she finally fell into a surprisingly uneventful dream. 

They fell in a steady routine and kept it for about a week. Charlie would get up and walk across the street to get breakfast and coffee. She would set out a donut next to Rowena, who refused to acknowledge her, then start working on cracking the code. The donut would always be gone by the time Castiel came with lunch, and by that time she would have a cup of tea in hand. He would have an upset, one-sided conversation with the witch and then give up after about an hour. They had leftovers and snack foods for dinner and then when Charlie got too tired to focus, she would go to sleep.

During that entire week Rowena hadn't spoken a word, nor had she made any sort of move to work on the book. The silence was mostly a relief, but in some ways it was concerning. Charlie was convinced that the witch was up to something, and had been worrying herself sick for the past three days in anticipation of whatever horrible thing Rowena had stewing. Castiel came and gone, but on the 14th day since what she dubbed 'the incident,' Charlie pulled him aside and demanded a change of scenery, which was, somewhat reluctantly, denied.  
Sam appeared a few mornings later, and the trio had nothing to show him. Charlie felt almost weary of the younger Winchester; something had changed in the man that made her anxious. 

He was full of desperate rage and it consumed him like fire. It was clear that Castiel perceived this difference as well, and he tried his best to make 'we have found jack shit' sound somewhat okay. This news was not received well.

"What do you mean you have nothing, you've been here almost a month!"

"This is some old stuff, Sam, it's going to take awhile," Charlie defended.

"We don't have awhile, Dean's getting worse!"

"We are all worried about Dean," Castiel said in a serious tone. "You need to calm down. Getting upset is not going to help your brother,"

"What the hell do you expect me to do! Of course I'm going to freak out, I can't even find him right now,"

"What happened?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"He left a note saying he was off on some Vetala hunt in Colorado. Thing is, there's nothing in any of the local media outlets that suggest any unusual deaths occurred anywhere in the state. All his phones have the GPS turned off as well. I called Garth and told him to have anyone who's seen any sign of him to give me a call, but there's been nothing so far. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens," Sam replied in an urgent tone.

"So he dropped off the map without a word, just like that?" Charlie bit her lip nervously. She had been working hard on the codex for the past two weeks, but she still felt like she wasn't doing enough. Still, the girl could only do so much on her own. Rowena was really the one at fault here. It's not like Charlie knew any magic, or had any clue on where to start looking for something that would help them. She didn't even know where to begin to learn since only about an eighth of what could be found on the internet was remotely true. She was more familiar with the other 87.5%: spellbooks and lore from RPGs, novels, and LARP realms. She obviously knew not to use potion recipes from Harry Potter, but Charlie was sure she wouldn't be able to fully discern the difference between real and fake on credible-looking websites. The whole thing was extremely frustrating. If the witch would just pull her weight, things would be so much easier.

"Yeah, he just vanished. That's why we need to get that Mark off of him. He might hurt a lot of people if we don't do it soon,"

"Can you bring me some spellbooks or books about magic or something? Knowing what I'm looking for may help," Charlie requested.

"Can't she just tell you or help out with it?"

"She hasn't really been helping at all," At those words, anger returned to Sam's features and he turned his attention to the witch.

"What? Why aren't you helping her?!"

"I told you," Rowena spoke her first words in over two weeks. "Kill my son, then I'll help with the spell,"

The next twenty or so minutes consisted of the same argument the two of them had every time they were in eachother's presence. Charlie mentally tuned out as they bickered, returning her attention to the screen in an attempt to be productive. She was worried about Sam though, he seemed much angrier than usual and his mood tended to shift there in a flash.  
The man slammed his hand down on the table and continued his yelling and as she looked up from her computer and saw the broken expression on Sam's face, it dawned on Charlie that it wasn't just about Dean anymore. She needed this cure to save both brothers. Sam was desperately searching for answers, and running himself ragged because of it. She had talked to Castiel and seen it with her own eyes: the younger Winchester was starting to lose his moral code. Charlie was worried that if they didn't come up with something soon, he was going to run off the rails and cause a lot of damage in an attempt to find something that seemed like it could work. Conspiring, though inefficiently, with Rowena was just more proof that he was desperate for answers and wasn't fully thinking his actions through. Things could get much worse if something wasn't done quickly, and it scared her to think of what that could entail.

The sound of a dish shattering snapped Charlie out of her thoughts. She looked over and saw that the mug Rowena was using had been reduced to shards of ceramic on the floor amongst a flood of papers, dark tea soaking through layers of notebooks that thankfully had nothing written in them, though that fact was on account of Rowena's sheer unwillingness to contribute. Rowena glared angrily up at Sam from her chair as he continued his loud lecture, relenting only when Castiel pulled him away to get the man to calm down. As he was pulled away, the witch turned slightly in her chair and Charlie saw the faint hint of a smug grin form on her face.

It was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're stabbing in the dark, you know," Rowena taunted Charlie over breakfast.

"Give me a break, I just woke up," Charlie muttered as she opened up a book, cup of joe in hand. At that point she was running on about two hours of sleep, and the stress from her environment and Sam certainly wasn't helping. Dean was getting worse, or so she'd been told. Fact is, Charlie hadn't left the block in weeks, perhaps even a month or more. She wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been there, nor did she know for sure what exactly was going on outside. There was just her and Rowena, day in and out, which could be very annoying. The witch wasn't necessarily actively cooperating, but she threw Charlie a few hints and steered her in the right direction on occasion.

"Why, I'm just trying to be helpful," Rowena held up her shackled hands defensively. "You know, you and I could be friends,"

"Why would I want that?" Charlie deadpanned, flipping the page of the hex book she was skimming.

"Because, I'm a good ally to have around. I'm a strong and very gifted witch, and that's even without my full power. You're smart, and you could learn too. We'd be unstoppable, you and I,"  
Charlie scoffed. "Yeah, and I don't sense any ulterior motives there," she replied sarcastically, leaning back in her chair and making eye contact with Rowena. "Plus, you're completely missing the point of friendship,"

"I beg your pardon?" she looked mildly offended.

"You shouldn't make 'friends' just because it benefits you. Friendship is about being there when the other person needs you and helping eachother out through the good and the bad. Friends are people you can trust with the serious stuff, but still enjoy the good times together. They share stories and ideas and make memories. If you're constantly looking for ways to benefit from the other person or worried they're going to screw you over, that's not real friendship,"

The words seemed to have had some sort of an effect on Rowena, who appeared a bit upset. "I don't need to be lectured. Now do you want to crack this damn code or what?"

The witch was quiet for most of the day, like always. The only difference was she felt like today they were actually getting stuff done; with her tablet running through possible decoding combinations while she skimmed Men of Letters journals that Sam had Cas bring in. Rowena probably contributed more that day than she had since she got here. It was a nice change of pace. Even Sam and Cas seemed a bit calmer when she updated them on their progress at dinner; they all sat down together for once. The younger Winchester didn't even fight with Rowena. They didn't really talk at all, but Charlie was going to chalk that up as a win anyway. Compared to the rest of the month, she felt pretty lucky.

The room returned to silence yet again after the guests left. Charlie flipped through old journals for a few hours before deciding that since it had been a decent day so far, she was going to ask about something that had been bothering her for awhile.

"Why did you kiss me?"

Rowena sat still for a moment, the question having caught her off guard, before shutting the book and turning to face her with a knowing grin on her face.

"Well, now, it was a bit more than that,"

"You're avoiding my question," Charlie pointed out.

"Do you know how witchcraft and magic work?" Rowena asked. Charlie went to protest, but the witch held up a hand. "What makes a spell work?"

"Spells require ingredients, and most of the time an incantation. The ingredients power the spell, while the incantation displays the caster's intent and shapes the spell's purpose," Charlie answered like she was reading it straight out of a textbook. She was sure she read that exact fact in different words at least twenty times in the last hour.

"What about exorcisms? If the ingredients power spells, where does the power come from when you send a demon back to hell?"

Charlie thought for a minute. "I want to say the user, but I feel like that's wrong,"

"It is. Think, there's a reason it only works on demons," the witch prompted.

"It was only ever meant to work on demons, so that means whoever created it would tailor it to fit demons. Does that mean the power comes from the demon itself?"

"Yes, the spell-or exorcism, as you know it- is made to draw the energy it uses from demons. It's easy for any regular human to perform since it doesn't require any knowledge of how it works, they just need to speak the words."

"But what does this have to do with you kissing me?" Charlie asked.

"Patience, child. What I was trying to show you is that energy can be drawn from many places. The most common source is nature. You don't realize it, but when you hunters do spells, you get your energy from nature. Now, hunters aren't witches. They're not talented enough to draw straight from the source. That's why they use so many herbs and dirts and rocks: each one carries a bit of natural energy, and each flower or branch has its different uses. Even talented witches need to use ingredients, they help shape intend and direct power as much as an incantation does, but we don't have to use them in the exact same way. We can do things more efficiently. There's more possibilities, both in spellwork and harnessing energy. When I'm chained like this, in iron, I can't interact with my environment and draw energy from it. That's why I haven't broken out,"

"What about the energy from your soul? I read somewhere that the Men of Letters learned to tap into their soul's power," Charlie interrupted.

"I can still do that. Souls are very powerful, but you'd be surprised at how little energy they can provide compared to what you would need. Now, people can create energy too. Why do you think witches are known to have orgies?"

"Sexual energy," Charlie replied, though the question was rhetorical. "Wait, you can actually use that for spells?"

"Sure can," Rowena smirked. "If you're gifted,"

Charlie pondered her new knowledge for a few moments. She had suspected there was an ulterior motive to Rowena's previous advances, but she didn't know until now that it was something like that. The Men of Letters had so little on the actual working of spells and more on their practical application, and she had no idea witches could harness energy that way.

"Why tell me all this?" Charlie asked, suspicious. "Why wouldn't you try to trick me again so you could tap into that energy and break free?"

"I knew it wouldn't work a second time. You're too smart." Rowena stated. "Consider it a peace offering, and an offer. I already told you we'd work well together. I could teach you so much,"

"And I already said no," Charlie replied automatically. Rowena shook her head slowly with a grin turning the corners of her lips.

"I'm just letting you know,"

Charlie turned her attention back to the book in front of her, though Rowena had given her much of the information she was looking for. She supposed that whatever this spell was, it would require a great deal of energy, and it wasn't going to be easy. Whatever the Mark really was, it was powerful. And the Book of the Damned was just as bad. There were always consequences for using magic like that, and Charlie couldn't even begin to prepare for what they may have to deal with after they remove it.

Beside her the tablet dinged, drawing her from her thoughts. Charlie shut the book and peered over at the screen, which was whizzing through lines of text and code and recording its findings in a window under a box that proclaimed in bold letters: 'MATCH FOUND.'


	4. Chapter 4

"Clever old Nadia. She tricked ya," Rowena told Charlie as she glanced through the information on the tablet screen.

"So this isn't it then?" Charlie asked, disappointed.

"Nope, the sigils and translation don't match up. This means your previous assumptions were wrong. You'll have to start over," Rowena replied haughtily. "Pity."

"Look, I'm doing the best I can here," Charlie replied. She knew the witch was going to start criticizing her again, and she definitely wasn't in the mood to fight. 

"But it's just not good enough, now is it?" Rowena mused, drumming her fingers idly on the table. "Admit it, you need me. You don't know what you're doing here, do you girlie?"

"I'm saving my family," she replied firmly. Rowena rolled her eyes.

"More of this 'family' business, I see. You know that's a load of crap, right? The two of them only care about each other. But somewhere deep down, you believe that they love you. That they'd protect you no matter what. You'd lay down your life for them, wouldn't you? Do you honestly think that they would return the favor?"

Charlie creased her brow, aggravated. A thousand things were going through her mind. She was angry at Rowena, and at Sam, and at herself. The witch was just goading her into an argument, and she was playing right into it. Charlie knew that. Yet somehow she still let herself get upset. Of course she would die for the Winchesters; she loved them. They supported her and helped her through some bad times. Hell, they even helped her to go on the biggest adventure of her life in Oz.

But there had been others too, she knew. Friends and family of the Winchesters who died with them or for them. Did the boys do everything in their power to protect them? She wasn't sure if the bit of doubt in her mind was founded in Rowena's manipulation tactics, but she was starting to wonder if Sam or Dean would lay down their lives for her. Charlie never wanted it to happen, but she couldn't help but think about what they would do if they were in the situation.

"They would," Charlie replied in a strong voice. After everything they had been through together, there's no way they wouldn't. Charlie wasn't going to let Rowena's words get to her.

Rowena sighed, crossing her legs and turning to face Charlie. "Look, tensions are running high, Sam's desperate, blah blah blah, I don't care. Let's review our situation for a moment, shall we? I'm a powerful witch, stuck in these iron chains until we find a 'solution' to the mark. You're an intelligent nerd, trying to crack a thousands of years old code that would give the user access to the most powerful spells and curses known to man. Ignore your little claims to moral high ground for just a wee moment, and think about this. We are both prisoners here, and we are working on a very old, powerful, dark spell that has unknown consequences. You're okay with that, or else you wouldn't be here. But for what? To save one pathetic human. We are endangering the lives of billions, all to save one. Our own lives, even. We cast this spell, we are at the epicenter. Who knows what will happen to us, to the world?"

"What are you trying to say?" Charlie asked, suspiciously.

"You claim to be a force of good, when in reality, good and evil are subjective. You're using dark magic to help a friend. 'Light' can be used for 'bad' and 'dark' can be used for 'good.' It all has to do with perspective. Witchcraft isn't good or bad by nature, it just depends how you use your gifts that determines who you are. What I'm saying is, we could be unknowingly bringing about major calamities and we should both get out before it reaches that point,"

"Even if something big comes from us completing this spell," Charlie entertained the idea for a moment, guilty about the fact that it was a major possibility. "You don't care about the others it would effect. You care about yourself."

"Is that such a crime? I've learned a lot in my life, and one of the most important things is that the ends justify the means. I've stayed alive because I care about myself," Rowena defended.

"That's just it though, that's the only person you do care about. You just want me to be 'on your side' so you can escape this place,"

"I honestly do want you as my apprentice, you know. It's not just that I want out of here. I certainly do, but I can tell you want out too,"

"Yeah, to get away from you," Charlie muttered. She yanked her tablet out of Rowena's hands and returned with it to her table

"You keep telling yourself that."

Charlie ignored her and focused on the screen in front of her. Her logic had seemed sensible; she had no idea where she messed up. It all seemed to fit. The computer had even told her it had a match. According to Rowena, when she matched the codex up with the text, it translated incorrectly. The illustrations and sigils didn't match up with what was being said, and sometimes the translation veered off the topic entirely. After a few minutes of contemplation she picked up a pen and wrote out a diagram showing her previous line of thinking. Perhaps having a visual aid would help show her where she went wrong. Despite Rowena's discouraging words, she was sure she had been on the right track. It's possible she could have just taken the wrong approach or branched off in the wrong direction.

She knew the gist of it. She had to take the names of saints and count the letters and that number stood for a numerology concept. Then each concept had a group of key words, and if she could find the symbols they translated into, the computer could find their matches in the codex and reveal their word or phrase counterparts in the book. The only problem is that there were thousands of canonized saints, even at the time Nadia devised the codex. She's tried different groupings, each with their own logic behind it, but that was th first time one of them had yielded any results. Charlie was beginning to thing the match was just a random fluke. She had her tablet running groupings for days.

Eventually her mind began to wander, as it sometimes did when she remained focused on a single task for too long. She thought about the work they were doing, and what it all meant. Though her intent was less than benevolent, there was a truth to Rowena's words. She'd learned in Oz that things weren't always as they seemed, and sometimes you had to do a little bad to do a lot of good. That didn't make her a bad person, it just meant that some sacrifices had to be made. The morals of magic were distorted, she knew, but the point of the matter was that Charlie never hurt anyone without reason, and those reasons were never selfish. That's what set the two of them apart, and no matter how tempting the opportunity to actually study magic was, she knew it wasn't a path she could take, especially not with morally ambiguous Rowena. Being a magic user had too many consequences, and she wasn't going to mess with that kind of stuff unless she had to.

Like right now. The Winchesters had reached their last resort with this spell, and they were all doing what they had to at this point. For Charlie, that entailed spending hours on end decoding Nadia's work with a mouthy witch. The sooner she solved this thing, the sooner she could ditch Rowena, but she had hit a rut in her work. The false match had drawn her attention to the fact that they had made no worthwhile discoveries in a week. Morale was low, not only with her but with Sam and Castiel as well. They were no closer to the cure than they were last Thursday, and steady progress had ceased altogether. It was discouraging.

Some days Charlie would wake up and bitterly wonder if this was it: working to exhaustion on the code, perhaps only to figure out that the cure would bring about the destruction of the world or result somehow in her death. Then her last few weeks of existence would have been wasted sitting in an abandoned, rotting house tirelessly getting closer to her own inevitable demise. It was depressing mornings like that when Charlie would have to force herself out of her sleeping bag and back into her workspace, pushing through another day regardless of whether time would assuage her pessimistic trepidation.

But it was no time to get discouraged, and Charlie knew that. She needed to focus now more than ever, and power through the failures. Redoubling her efforts, she turned her attention back to her work, looking at her diagram and trying to work through the thought process.

"Okay, so at the time of the false match, the group I had ran through the process were those saints who had special symbols attributed to them, like Saint Lawrence, who had a gridiron," Charlie started explaining.

"Remind me again why I care," Rowena said from the table where she was flipping through the book.

"In that case, Lawrence has eight letters. And eight means-" Charlie ignored the witch as she continued her recap.

"Are you deaf? Just get the decoding done and shut up about it,"

"I'm doing this programming exercise," Charlie explained. "The idea is you explain the code to a rubber duck, and by going through the whole thing out loud, you're more likely to catch your mistakes,"

"Do I look like a rubber duck to you? Quit having a blether with yourself, it's annoying,"

"You know, you could be nicer,"

"Oh, sorry, am I hurting your pathetic little feelings? Deal with it."

Charlie crossed her arms and directed a venomous expression towards Rowena. "You know what? I'm done taking shit from you. You think you're all that because you're some old, powerful witch. But I don't care. You aren't any more special than anyone else. You're just a person. And do you know what I think?"

"Oh, pray tell, what does little miss ray of sunshine think?" the witch mocked.

"I think you attack people because it makes you feel better about being alone. You make others feel shitty in some sad attempt to convince yourself that you're much better off without them." Rowena just scoffed and shrugged it off. Charlie was aggravated. She wanted to make the witch feel something. After everything Rowena had done, she deserved to feel all the hate she had put out into the world.

"You know what, let me tell you about yourself. You grew up completely alone. Somewhere along the way you learned you were different. Superiority complex. Then you set off to reap the benefits, but were somehow found out. Tragedy. You leave your son like he was trash and run away from your home. Study. Abandonment. Selfishness. Exile. And even now you set out to hate everyone you meet. Any kindness that has ever left your mouth has been purely for your own gain. And I don't need to have any 'shared life experiences' to tell you all that. It's easy to see how much of a selfish, cruel hearted bitch you are just from being around you."

"A bit testy, are we?" Rowena replied. Charlie could see the witch's knuckles turn white as she gripped the edge of the chair she was sitting in. She looked up at Charlie through narrowed eyes, an expression of contempt apparent on her face.

Charlie returned to her work with a smug grin pulling the corners of her lips. She knew she had hit a sensitive point with Rowena, and she was enjoying every moment of her small victory.

A few hours later Castiel dropped in with a few more books and a bag of assorted mini candy bars. Neither of them had said a word since their last argument, and Charlie had made no new breakthroughs in the codex. She was still a bit irritated at Rowena's rudeness, but for the most part, she had calmed down.

"I didn't know what kind of candy you liked," Castiel explained. He set the items down on the table beside Charlie. "I'm a fan of KitKats myself. The name, it's amusing."

"Thanks Cas," Charlie said. She opened the bag and pulled out a Twix bar, nibbling absently at it as she gazed at her notepad. "Hey, can I ask for your help?"

"Sorry, but I don't think I can provide much assistance. I don't know anything about this code," Castiel apologized.

"Just humor me for a second," Charlie slid the notepad over to Castiel and annotated the process with her pen as Castiel nodded along.

"I got a match earlier, but I think it was just a coincidence. When we tried it out, it didn't make any sense. I don't know what groupings of saints to use."

"What led you to saints in the first place?" Castiel asked.

"Well, when we first looked over the codex, we checked the whole thing to see if any of it made sense. On the last page, there's a note in the bottom in Theban. It translates to something like 'those of guidance and example recognised by man but distinguished by God.' Saints are people who have been designated as having great honor and worthy of emulation by man. They're also considered to be very Godlike, so that could be the distinguished by God part. But I can't figure out which saints I'm suppose to use,"

"I think you're on the right track. Perhaps it's a different denotation of distinguished. You're going off the assumption that it means recognised, but perhaps it means differentiated."

"So what, they're separated by God? What does that mean?"

"Well," Castiel began. "There were a number of people who were recognized as saints, but were actually angels. Like Ezekiel."

"Really? Do you know all their names?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, I can write them down for you," Castiel started writing name after name as Charlie fidgeted with the wrapper from her candy bar. Castiel's logic made sense, and she could hardly wait to run them through the layers of code.

"There you go," Castiel handed her back the notepad and she thanked him. "I must be going. Keep me updated, and let me know if you need anything,"

And with that the angel disappeared. Charlie looked down at the list and counted out fourteen names, all in alphabetical order. She ate a few candy bars as she counted out the letters and wrote them on the lines. It was an exciting prospect; the solution to decoding the book could be sitting right in front of her. She scritched her notes on the paper and typed on her tablet and was so involved in the whole thing that she didnt pay much attention to her surroundings until she noticed that Rowena was suspiciously quiet. She hadn't said a word throughout the whole encounter with Cas, and had remained silent since he left. 

Charlie glanced over at the witch, who was faced away from her with her arms crossed. She started to wonder if she really hit a nerve with Rowena. It wasn't uncommon behavior for the witch to refuse to talk for days at a time, Charlie reminded herself. She almost felt kind of bad, though she didn't necessarily regret her words. It almost felt like she was going against herself after trying, for the most part, to keep herself from retaliating against Rowena, with the hopes that the two of them would get along at least enough to work together peacefully.

Charlie reached a pausing point in her work and stood, taking the bag of assorted chocolate candy bars over to where Rowena was sitting. The witch tilted her head as she looked up at her, a confused expression on her face.

"I thought you might want some," Charlie offered, and dumped half the bag onto the table next to the empty tea mug.

"Whatever," Rowena shrugged and turned away. Charlie rolled her eyes and returned to her seat. At least she returned to her work with the knowledge that, if nothing else, she was being the bigger person. Even if Rowena had been a pain in the ass to work with, she wasn't going to stoop to the witch's level. Her hopes weren't high, but it would be nice if the two of them could get along better. They were stuck together indefinitely and if they could stop themselves from tearing each other apart, it was going to be much easier to work together.

Charlie got back to work, spending hours running the names through the complex, layered process she had uncovered through weeks of trial and error. Books were piled high all around her desk, loose papers scattered across the surface and stuffed in notebooks. The place was strangely starting to feel normal and comforting to her. The last month and a half had been one of the most mentally exhausting times of her life. Despite all the consecutive all-nighters, pressure from Sam, and atrocious condescension from Rowena, Charlie actually enjoyed working at cracking the codex. For the first time since Oz, she felt like she was actually doing something important. It also provided her with the intellectual challenge she had been craving. It wasn't the magical, fast-paced adventure that Oz was, but it was much more fulfilling. She was breaking a layered code formulated by the only witch who was ever able to read the most dangerous book of curses ever compiled, which was also in code. Lines of symbols and hieroglyphic alphabets long dead lined the pages of notebooks and filled windows on her tablet and every one of them felt important, and their meanings were all going to be uncovered because of her. It was all so overwhelming it its own nerdy sort of way.

Charlie became lost in her work once again until the sound of a wrapper being torn interrupted the productive silence. She felt a triumphant grin tug at the corners of her mouth as Rowena brought a mini Snickers to her soft, thin lips and pushed it gently past her teeth with her index finger. She took a few bites before swallowing, tongue darting out to clean the melted bit of chocolate off her fingertip.

"Ay, can I help you?" Rowena asked. It was a moment before Charlie processed the words, and when she did she ducked her gaze immediately back down to her work, embarrassed. She didn't even realize she had been staring.

"Sorry, I'm just tired," a justifiable fact, seeing as how it was fifteen past three in the morning. "I was staring off into space."

"Well stop. Aren't we on the edge of a breakthrough or something? Yeah? Well chop chop then,"

Charlie grumbled, but was too tired to retort. She turned her attention to the computer, and the first thing she noticed was the error message.

"You're kidding," she grumbled.

"What now?"

"The wifi's out. Says it will resume when it finds a stable connection,"

"See? All this new technology is unreliable," Rowena muttered, making sure it was still loud enough for Charlie to hear.

"Without technology, you probably would have died trying to get here on a eight week journey by ship,"

"At least then I wouldn't have to hear your mindless babbling," it was a weak retort, but she was willing to cut the witch some slack since they were both worn out and sleep deprived. Now that her tablet sat idle, Charlie had no reason to be awake. She took the device over to Rowena's table and sat it down beside her. She didn't trust the witch not to mess with it, but she was thoroughly convinced there wasn't much she could do with her lack of knowledge on the subject, nor did Rowena have any motivation tosabotage the work.

"Let me know if that thing starts up again. If you're awake by chance," Charlie told her. "Just shout or something. I gotta get some sleep,"

"Fine," came the simple reply. 

Charlie trudged to the door of her makeshift room and before entering, turned around briefly to wish Rowena goodnight. There was no reply, but like the weeks before it didn't really matter much to the girl, who passed out almost immediately after hitting the sleeping bag.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie woke up not much later, groggy. Her sleep schedule was so fucked up she wasn't too surprised, just slightly irritated. Sometimes she had problems sleeping, even when she was exhausted and fatigued. It was a stressful experience, especially when she had important stuff to do.

She drew the sleeping back tightly around herself and burrowed her face into the pillow, but it was clear after a few minutes she wasn't going back to sleep. Though she felt like death, her mind fed her the illusion of being totally awake. There wasn't much to do about that, Charlie learned, but get up and go with it. She might as well do something productive if she wasn't going back to sleep. Rowena may not even be awake, so that was a plus.

Charlie drug herself out of her cocoon and started towards the main room, but paused at the door frame. Rowena was hunched over on the floor. Though the witch was turned away from her, she could see her form trembling slightly as she sobbed quietly into her hands. Charlie was shocked. Never before had she seen Rowena truly upset. It made her wonder what caused such a thing.

She took a hesitant step into the room but the old floorboards betrayed her, letting out a creak that startled the witch into attention.

"Hey," Charlie offered. She went to Rowena and took a seat next to her on the floor, not entirely sure of what she should do or how she should feel. 

"What do you want?" She tried to sound malicious but her tone was obscured by distress. 

"Shh, it's okay. I know you're upset. It's okay," Charlie insisted, trying to show as much kindness towards the woman as she could.

"Get out of here,"

"What's wrong?"

"Are you daft? I told you to get out," Rowena made an effort to push her away, but she barely budged. Disgruntled, the witch turned away.

"Listen," Charlie started. "We may not see eye to eye all the time, but if you want to talk to someone, you can talk to me."

The room was silent, and Charlie waited for a reply. She wondered if the witch would say anything at all. It's not like she could flee, being shackled down to the immediate five foot radius. Rowena must feel like a caged animal, trapped and helpless and reliant upon those around her more than she's probably been in quite some time. In a way, Charlie kind of felt bad for her. They had obviously been keeping her against her will, but it had been for the greater good; they needed her help despite her unwillingness to provide it. It never really felt wrong until that moment. 

Minutes passed before Rowena's shoulders relaxed, and she scoffed.

"I don't need help from the likes of you," she replied. Her voice still sounded broken from all the crying.

Charlie let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I just want to help," After she waited several minutes and no response came, Charlie decided that she was going to make tea. That always seemed to make the witch happier and easier to deal with, so it sounded like it would be a good start. She grabbed the boxes of tea bags that rested on the edge of the table-Rowena always insisted on making her own tea- and headed into the kitchen.

She was almost never the one who cleans the dishes. They barely use any to begin with, but whenever Castiel popped by and saw dirty cups and bowls he always insisted on cleaning them. It wasn't for lack of willingness, more of necessity of time she didn't have. The funny thing was though, Cas never put them back in the same cabinet or on the same shelf, and his placement made next to no sense. Charlie had found cups on the plate racks, small bowls in the utensil drawers, and even forks under the sink. 

It took a few minutes, but she finally found a mug buried behind bags of off brand chips and boxes of poptarts that were nearly empty. The kettle was still on the stove, so all she had to do was fill it up with water and turn the burner on. To this day Charlie still wasn't sure how they had managed to get the utilities working in that old building, but she was thankful for it nonetheless.

The scent of jasmine drifted through the air as Charlie took a green teabag out of one of the boxes and placed it in the mug, followed shortly by a black teabag that had some sort of cherry flavoring added. The cherry tea was part of a fruit tea variety box, it wasn't offered as a single pack, but none of the other types sounded appealing to Charlie. They were all mixed with strange flavors that didn't seem to make sense. Rowena had seemed to think so too because the rest of it always went unused.

The kettle whistled and she poured the boiling water it into the mug, then waited a few moments before stirring in three sugar cubes. Charlie personally thought the notion of putting sugar in tea was atrocious, but she knew that's how Rowena took it, so she fixed the mug right up and brought it back to the witch, who was still struggling to gain her composure.

"Hey, I made you tea," Charlie put her hand on Rowena's shoulder and offered her the mug. 

"I don't want it. You probably made it wrong anyway," her eyes remained downcast.

"One jasmine, one cherry, three sugar cubes?"

There was a pause. "You got it right?"

"Yeah, here," Charlie sat back down next to her and forced the mug into her hands. She took an appraising sip, then nodded slightly. "See? I've been around you long enough to know how you take your tea. Though I respectfully disagree; if the tea's good enough, you don't need sugar,"

Rowena was fairly still at this point, and her tears had stopped. Charlie waited for her to say something, but she didn't. The tea slowly disappeared from the cup as the two sat in silence, and after the last sip, Rowena looked up.

"I'll tell you. But not out of some ridiculous notion that I trust you or want to confide in you or anything. I don't. You're going to find out anyway so I might as well tell you now," It looked almost as if it pained Rowena to concede, even in a very minor sense of the word. Charlie nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"Your tablet thing started back up not too long ago. Almost immediately it said it found a match. A real one. And so when I went to look at the spell to remove the Mark from that Winchester, I saw the ingredients. The first two are practically impossible, mind you. But I know you all will find a way. You always do, right?" Rowena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "The last one, the caster has to kill something they love. At first, I thought it was ridiculous. I don't love anything," she paused, just for a moment. "But then I remembered little Oskar,"

"Who's Oskar?"

"Not long after the Grand Coven kicked me out, I was weak. His family took me in and he was just-" she cut herself off. "I gave him immortality,"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes I bloody love him I gave the kid immortality!" she snapped. "And now I have to kill him. I don't even know what he's done with his life,"

"I'm so sorry." Charlie replied in a sympathetic tone. She couldn't even imagine what that might feel like. Many people have come and gone from her life. People she cherished, people she loved. It was hard to imagine only loving a single person, and then being forced to end their life. An unsettling feeling arose in Charlie's stomach, and she felt almost sick from guilt. "That's not even fair, you shouldn't have to do something like that. Is he the only one you ever loved?"

"Yes. But big spells like this have a cost. Life's not fair," Rowena said bitterly. "That's just what I get for trying to be close to someone," she muttered.

"You can't base you entire philosophy on that one situation, no matter how awful it is,"

"Look where it got me! And where it got him, for that matter. He stopped aging and outlived everyone he knew. He's probably been lonely the past century. And he lived for what, to suffer and eventually have the witch that cast that spell on him show up so many years later and kill him? All because some stupid boy decided that it would be a brilliant idea to take on the Mark of Cain. It's ridiculous! I love one person in my entire life, and now I have to kill him." Rowena's grip had tightened on the mug and her knuckles turned white.

Charlie didn't know how to respond. She felt like this was her fault: she chose to help Sam with the book instead of trying to find an alternative. His desperation about getting the Mark off Dean forced both of them into a decision; they couldn't afford to spend time searching for another solution that may not even exist. Rowena might be a mean, bitchy person, but she was still a person. Though necessary, what they were forcing her to do was wrong. Charlie tried to justify it in her head as being better than hundreds, thousands, maybe eventually even millions being slaughtered at the hands of supercharged Dean Winchester, but she had to remind herself that the lesser of two evils was still evil.

Rowena's bit about relative morality was starting to tug at Charlie's attention, and it was making her feel conflicted.

As she thought about the situation further, she realized that deep down, Rowena must be very lonely. She didn't know much, but she knew the witch had to abandon her life because of the Grand Coven. She must have been running from them for decades, with no time to settle or get to know anyone. Somewhere along the way she had lost Crowley too; whether it was by choice or not, Charlie didn't know. But what she did know was that Rowena had been alone most her life, and that was something she could understand.

"Hey, listen," she started in a soothing voice, gently resting her hand of Rowena's shoulder. "I know what it's like to be alone, and to feel guilty for the deaths of other people that are really close to you. I get it, I really do. But isolating yourself from the rest of the world isn't the answer. I've done it for quite awhile myself, though not to the degree and duration that you have. It only lead to bitter heartache and loneliness," Charlie reached for the empty cup in Rowena's hands, and as their fingers brushed Rowena's grip on the mug relaxed, and she allowed it to be taken from her and set aside.

"Look at me," Charlie said, and she complied, her face bearing a neutral expression. "I know you don't plan on sticking around after this shit goes down with the Mark -things to do, places to see, I get it- but I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to. Unless, of course, you try to hurt my friends. Cuz that's totally not cool."

Rowena looked up at her, and for the first time Charlie saw weakness in the witch's eyes. She offered up a smile, which only seemed to confuse Rowena further.

"Why do you care so much?" Rowena asked, and surprisingly, Charlie couldn't detect any suspicion in her tone. "You hate me, don't you? We're enemies,"

"I'm a firm believer that anyone can change for the better. Plus, I know how it feels. I wish someone had been there for me when I was hurting. And I think you've been hurting longer than I've been alive,"

A few silent moments passed before Rowena put her guard back up, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms. "Don't expect your 'kind-hearted' attitude to rub off on me, girlie. It isn't going to happen. The only reason I'm cooperating with you is because it's in my best interest to not get murdered by an uncontrollable Dean Winchester. You're all worried about the repercussions of this spell, but not me. I don't care if the whole country gets wiped off the face of the earth, if it means my life and my freedom," she shook her head and scoffed. "Maybe someday you'll understand that nobody's going to be there to protect you but yourself."

Charlie let a smile pass her lips briefly as she shook her head in disbelief. "You're ridiculous. I know what you're doing and it's ridiculous."

"I beg your pardon?" she replied, slightly offended.

"Whenever someone actually tries to reach out to you, you shut them out. You won't let anyone get close to you because you're afraid they're going to hurt you, so you push them away and focus on yourself. You're upset about being alone, but in reality you're the one perpetuating that,"

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me," Rowena snapped, voice full of venom.

"Yeah, I think I do," Charlie insisted genuinely. "And you can't expect me to believe you don't care about the spell's repercussions, if nothing else they'll effect you too. You can be selfish, but I see the potential in you. You just gotta find someone to care about,"

"You're wrong! I-" she began, but Charlie cut her off.

"Listen, I'm not trying to verbally attack you or anything. Just, you know, give you some advice. I think it would be a good thing for you to be close to someone else, maybe you'll be happier,"

"You don't know what I need,"

"No, but I've been down a similar path and now I know what I needed. People to care for, a place to call home, stuff like that,"

"I don't want to talk to you right now," Rowena replied, slapping Charlie's hand off her shoulder and turning away. Charlie lingered there for a few moments before standing. There was nothing else with the witch that could be accomplished tonight. 

On the way back to her makeshift room she glanced at the tablet that contained the solution to the problem that had been plaguing Sam and Dean for quite awhile now. They were still the only two people who knew the solution, which was a daunting thought. Sam and Castiel needed to be informed, but that would wait until morning, she decided. Sam would insist on coming over and getting to work right away, which Charlie was sure neither her nor Rowena would want. The day had been exhausting enough already, plus Sam deserved one last night of real sleep. Charlie knew that as soon as he heard about the spell, he would tirelessly work towards it like she had been doing for what seemed like forever now.

She got back into her sleeping bag and drew the extra blanket she sometimes draped overtop it up to her face, settling in. There weren't too many nights left, at least Charlie hoped, that she would have to stay in these conditions. There were a few times that she had seriously considered leaving just for a night, to a real bed and a real shower and some actual peace and quiet, but for one reason or another, be it a distraction, discovery, or otherwise, she had stayed put all these weeks. The question remained, what would Charlie do now? If Sam asked for her help, she would still assist him, but it didn't sound like there was much she could do. 

Taking a break for awhile sounded ideal. She hadn't had a single day off it seemed since she started tracking the book. Once she found out where it was, she immediately retrieved it, and then was on the run for months. It was a brutal trek across the globe, staying in obscure hostels in strange cities and zigzagging around in an attempt to throw her pursuers off her trail. As soon as she came back and got somewhere safe, she had gotten almost straight to work on the code. The whole thing was exhausting.

As much as she would like to plan for some time off, Charlie knew that it was unlikely. After they remove the Mark they'll have to face the consequences, whatever they may be. And the Stynes were still out there too. If she was telling the truth, she was kind of nervous. There was no way of knowing what would happen. It could end up being worse than what they were already dealing with, which was hard to imagine, but definitely possible. Regardless, the decision had already been made. Rowena just needed to do the spell already so Charlie could stop worrying about the outcome so much and just face it.

Then there was Rowena. What would she do after this was over? Maybe she would try to get as far away from them as possible, so as to not get entangled in the perpetual chaos that is the Winchesters's lives. Would she skip around and nervously try to cover her trail, afraid that they considered her a threat and were hunting her down? After having to deal with such a thing herself, Charlie hoped not. Besides, there was something about Rowena that made her want to look after the witch. Maybe it's because she had been lost once herself, but she wanted to help Rowena understand what a positive impact others can have on her life. Impossible as it sounded, Charlie wanted to make her a better person. Not to mention that the Winchesters would benefit from having someone keep an eye on her.

But was that really the best decision? Sometimes it was easy to forget just how powerful Rowena is, what with having her chained up and in a mostly forced cooperative mood. The witch was dangerous, and even Charlie was unsure of her full capabilities. Not only that, but she was unpredictable too. How could Charlie be sure she wouldn't end up badly hurt, or even dead?  
She supposed that as a hunter, there was no guarantee of her wellbeing in the first place. If that was the alternative, then going with Rowena seemed like a better strategic move. 

No matter what happened, she needed to make sure the Book and the Codex made it to a secure place, perhaps somewhere in the bunker. The last thing they needed was Rowena running off with one or both of them and wreaking havoc across the nation.

Despite her fatigue, Charlie couldn't seem to get to sleep. There were still too many thoughts running through her head and before she knew it the sun was rising, bits of light slipping between the boards barring the window. Pushing her covers away and sitting up, she took her cell phone off the floor and sent out a quick message to Sam and Cas. 

A reply came almost instantly from both of them: they would be there in five minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may know, Nanowrimo is starting soon, and for that I have an idea for another Charlie/Rowena fic that I will be writing for the entirety of November. I will definitely be continuing this one, but I will not be able to work on it until Nanowrimo has ended. Thanks to all of you who are still with me here, I appreciate every one of you! Look foward to more cool stuff from me in the next month :D


	6. Chapter 6

"These ingredients are impossible," Castiel shook his head in disbelief. At the head of the table, Rowena shrugged.

"Impossible or not, it's what the book says," she reassured them. Charlie could hardly believe what the spell was calling for herself. The forbidden fruit? The golden calf? This was some ridiculously old biblical shit. She honestly had no idea how they would get any of it. Even Castiel looked lost.

"If this is what we need, we have to get it. No exceptions," Sam stated firmly. He was the only one who didn't seem phased by any of it, but there was still something off about him. Charlie felt bad for the guy; he looked like that one kid who keeps insisting that his goldfish is just resting. Frankly, it was uncomfortable to watch.

"There is one more thing, but it will be easier to find. A Polish boy named Oskar, should be in his mid twenties," Rowena said, her voice as calm as if she were simply relaying the weather. Charlie was impressed at how composed the woman was.

"It says that...in the book?" Castiel asked, his trademark confused expression smacked on his face. It was a moment before Charlie realized why he didn't get it, and she stifled a laugh at the implications of the way Rowena phrased the final ingredient. She knew it was serious and she shouldn't find it funny, but it was amusing to think about the final component to this ancient spell being any random polish kid named Oskar.

"No, but it does say I have to kill something I love. That's what I love. Now just find him so I can kill him already," Rowena admitted reluctantly. It was evident that she wanted to lie, but there's no way she would get away with it when Charlie knew the truth. She felt kind of bad about this fact, as she had for most things involing the witch in the past few weeks, but there was nothing she could do about it. Luckily nobody payed much mind to it, eager to get started on the impossible tasks at hand.

Castiel took off almost immediately, actively supressing his hopenessness in an attempt to focus on his mission. Rowena remained at the head of the table while Sam pulled Charlie aside, a serious look plastered on his face.

"I couldn't kill Crowley," Sam admitted after ushering her into the other room.

"I thought Rowena gave you a hex bag last week?" Charlie asked, brows knitted together. "She wouldn't screw it up,"

"I know, but I tried it. It didn't work, who knows why,"

"Well, it sounded like the easiest way. If that failed," Charlie trailed off, genuinely worried. If that hex bag didn't kill Crowley, then they had one strong, pissed off demon to deal with, and right now that was a problem.

"Yeah. So that's not an option. We have to see if she'll do it for something else," Sam said.

They were silent for a moment. "She'd probably do it for her freedom," Charlie suggested. It was the only other thing that she could think the witch may want. She knew for sure that Rowena wanted to get out of there; hell, Charlie did too.

"Letting her free is dangerous," Sam started. A conflicted expression flashed on his face and he let out an aggrivated sigh. "But getting the Mark off Dean is the number one priority. If that's what she suggests, we may have no choice but to give it to her,"

Charlie considered the situation. Now that they were setting the gears into action, the consequences drew ever closer. She was going to have to make a choice soon; and she had no idea what to do. Charlie hasn't experienced normal life since before Oz, and it was hard to remember what it was she actually use to do with her time. As she thought about it, the notion of keeping an eye on Rowena actually started to sound more and more appealing compared to its alternatives; hunting on her own seemed too lonely an enterprise now that she had been constantly around at least one other person for so long, and returning to a normal life seemed ridiculous after everything she experienced. It would only make sense to keep an eye on the powerful witch. Nobody else had time to do it, and she didn't really have a better idea at the moment.

"What if I went with her?" Charlie asked.

"What?" the question seemed to catch Sam offguard.

"Yeah, I could keep an eye on her. She's always saying she wants me to be her apprentice, I could convince her to let me tag along," she explained. "This way it's one more thing you guys don't have to worry about. I'll tell you if she's planning anything big,"

"Charlie, that's quite a risk. She's manipulative, and powerful, and―"

"Sam, I got this. I know how she works, I've only lived with the woman for two whole months now. It's fine, I can handle it,"

Sam was quiet for a moment as he weighted their options in his head. "Okay. Fine, go with her. If you feel like you're in danger though, just leave. Worry about your safety first,"

"Of course," Charlie replied. She was relieved that she got permission, but the worry on Sam's face made her wonder if the whole thing wasn't the worst idea she'd ever had.

However she was out of time for contemplation, as the two of them returned quickly to the main room to talk over the new terms of the deal. Charlie could have predicted to interaction that followed to a T: Sam told Rowena that the hex bag hadn't worked, which was followed by about three straight minutes of arguing before the witch proposed her alternative offer, which Sam hesitated before accepting. Just as she thought, Rowena asked for freedom and a guarantee that Sam or Dean would not kill her. Nobody mentioned Charlie's plan, and in her opinion it was for the better. Everything would fall into place soon enough.

"Okay," Sam finally said. "We'll be back as soon as we can. I still don't want either of you leaving, got it?"

Charlie opened her mouth to protest, but Sam was already out the door. She grumbled, upset about being stuck in the shitty, decaying house even though her work was done. Why did she have to stay? It wasn't like she was the enemy or anything like the witch was. Defeated, Charlie returned to the table to gather up all the books that were spread out across the top into a single, neat pile.

"What the hell are we suppose to do now?" Rowena asked. 

"I don't know," she replied. For once, she and Rowena shared the same attitude about something. "We could watch a movie I guess?"

"I don't watch movies. Plus, we don't have a tv," she replied, more than eager to be a complete buzzkill.

"I have stuff on my tablet?" Charlie suggested, ignoring the witch's pessimism. She took the device off the table and started scrolling through her video library, trying to find something to watch. Rowena wouldn't appreciate Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica, and Charlie wasn't really in the mood to watch Lord of the Rings. Her finger hovered over Harry Potter and she knew she'd found what she was looking for.

"Oh my god, we have to watch Harry Potter! It's about witches. Kind of," Charlie grinned, scooting her chair closer to Rowena's and propping the tablet up on its stand.

"Kind of?" Rowena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just watch it," Charlie replied, and hit play on the first movie.

Two hours later, Charlie was filled with nostalgia and Rowena let off an aura of annoyed confusion.

"That was awful," the witch commented. "Worst thing I've ever seen,"

"What? No it's not. Harry Potter is the best," Charlie asserted. To her surprise Rowena had remained quiet during the whole thing, only now speaking up to let her distaste be known. She honestly hadn't expected the witch to watch past the first twenty minutes, or at least to start complaining about all the incorrect demonstrations of magic it portrayed.

"Everything they're doing is wrong. Is this what normal people think of when they think of magic?" Rowena asked, rolling her eyes. "You just say some words and point your little stick and things just happen?"

"I mean, I guess. That's how a lot of pop culture shows it," Charlie shrugged. She knew now that real magic was pretty different, but she still found herself able to enjoy stories like that. They were just stories, after all.

"But you miss out on everything by thinking that way. Magic isn't always that dumbed-down stuff you hunters use where you mix some stuff, say some words, and suddenly everything happens. You miss the connections, the energy flows, all the things that make magic personal and strong,"

"Well yeah, most people don't believe that magic exists. To them, they're trying to portray inconceivable concepts," Charlie defended.

"Yeah, well they wouldn't have to look very hard to find it. We use to keep secrets so well, back when the Grand Coven actually had some semblence of power," She scoffed. "Now all of our information is in the hands of normal people. Anything strong and important is in that damn bunker, and everything else is scattered. Anyone potentially has access to some power, it's a   
wonder this whole place isn't full of at least incompetent magic users,"

Charlie shrugged. "People put a lot of stock in their religions. 'Witchcraft is the devil's work', you know how it is,"

"All too well, I'm afraid," Rowena shook her head. "Spoken like a true witch, by the way,"

Rowena turned her head slightly to meet Charlie's eyes, an expression somewhere in between mild hope and soft remorse settled on her face. Charlie said nothing. She didn't know what to say, how to reply, or even how she felt. It didn't really matter anyway because Rowena didn't press further, instead opting to let a solemn silence fall between the two. Charlie's eyes fell to her lap, where her thumb tapped idly on her leg as she escaped into her thoughts.

"I haven't watched a movie in a while," Charlie said, changing the topic. "Thanks for watching with me,"

"Yeah, well, appreciate the time I wasted on it," Rowena grumbled. "Next time, I'm picking something,"

Charlie looked up at the shock of those words, but the witch's gaze was to the side, arms crossed. Out of every possible reply, she didn't expect the woman would suggest doing it again. She   
wasn't sure what to make of it; what Rowena's motivation could possibly be. Maybe she didn't need one. Maybe this whole ordeal was starting to take its toll on her too. Everyone needed a break sometimes.

"Okay," Charlie agreed.

They ate dinner together at the same table that night for the first time. Usually Charlie took her meals as she worked and Rowena ate what was put in front of her when she felt like it, but there they were, sitting together with their food at a table that was mostly clear of books and papers (also a first). They had been getting along unusually well that day. Rowena, for the most part, had not returned to her rude, bitchy self since the events of the previous night, and Charlie wasn't quite sure yet whether that was good or bad.

It was good for now, Charlie decided when they got through dinner without an incident. They had talked about strangely normal things, and not once had either of them brought up their current predicament. The stress of the project they had been assigned to was largely gone, as was some of the tension between the two. It seemed like since the pressure to perform had dissipated, they were both more amiable. Sure there were still problems to face, and soon enough Charlie knew she'd be stressing about them too, but at the moment everything seemed calm. It was nice, and she was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while. Charlie was idly doodling in a notebook while Rowena flipped through a book, though it was easy to tell that neither of them were really paying attention to what they were doing. Charlie's brain, at least, was still fried from all the work. Her drawing was uncharacteristically crappy, and after trying to fix it for a few minutes she closed the notebook and set it aside. She was going to get up, but Rowena's voice stopped her.

"Tell me a sad bit of your past," Rowena requested.

"What?"

"You know something about mine. Don't you think I should get to hear about yours?"

Charlie considered this for a moment. She felt kind of bad that Rowena was practically forced to share a painful memory. Knowing her, it probably made her feel vulnerable; all she knew about Charlie were a few general guesses. It wouldn't really hurt to share something. Rowena didn't seem to have any malicious intent at all. If she did, she probably would have tried to pull the information out of Charlie in a less direct way.

"Okay. Yeah," Charlie lingered for a moment on what she would share while Rowena waited patiently in her chair, book flipped closed and pushed aside.

"I got arrested when I was twelve years old. I was already in a really bad place mental health-wise, and being arrested as a kid is a terrifying experience. I was alone, scared, and I didn't really know what to do,"

"How did you get arrested?" Rowena interrupted, curiousity painted on her face.

"I stole a video game beta from a large company, tweaked some shitty pieces, and released it for free," she replied. The witch narrowed her eyes in confusion, but Charlie continued the story. 

"Anyway, my parents were, uh," she paused for a moment. "gone, and I didn't have other family. And I was in some serious trouble. While they were deciding what to do with me, I broke out of holding and ran."

"Did they ever catch you?"

"No. I was a kid, so it wasn't hard to take an alias," It felt strange to say; though she's had her fair share of different names, Charlie seemed to stick. She'd used it for years now, though not completely consistently, but that's what Sam and Dean know her as, and it almost felt like her actual name at that point.

"Why did you choose Charlie?" Rowena asked. The name seemed to slide like honey off her lips, spoken in a slow deliberation like it always was when the witch said it. It was rare that she used Charlie's name to refer to her, and because of this it always caught Charlie offguard when she said it. It was normal enough to use someone's name, but it was different when it was Rowena. It felt almost personal.

"Charlie is more recent. I've had many aliases," she replied. Rowena nodded, considering this in respectful silence.

"Anyway, I was on the run for years. Have been my whole life, technically. For a long time I was worried that someone would be waiting for me in the next town, at the next bus stop or shelter," Charlie continued. 

As a twelve year old, it was a scary experience. She could still remember the terror she felt every day just going about her life: sleeping in a different place most nights, not knowing where the next meal or cab fare or bus ticket would come from, scared to touch a computer again out of fear that the cops would find her. Eventually she started using library computers and tried to best educate herself, and when she managed to get a bank account she would find sources to fill it, but for quite some time she was still afraid that someday someone would catch her finally and bring her in for her crimes. Though she knew it was irrational and unlikely that after everything, someone could catch her now, there were a few nights on occassion where she could still feel the anxiety of being on the run bubbling back up.

"I know the feeling. I did that for decades," Rowena replied, surprisingly sympathetic. 

They fell back into silence, as often happened with them, and Charlie took the time to reflect on it all. She looked over at Rowena, who was studying her hands in her lap, wondering how she even got to this point. All of the seemingly random choices she made led up to here, for some reason, in an abandoned house eating hot pockets and chips with a centuries-old witch. To think none of this would have happened if twelve year old Charlie didn't get scared at a slumber party. Would it have been for the better? Maybe for her, but what would have happened to Sam and Dean, and by extension the world? Maybe something else would have triggered the events on down the road. Maybe she was destined to have a shitty, lonely childhood and eventually end up here no matter what. She didn't know how fate worked, or if it was even real, of if it even mattered either way. Charlie decided to make a point of asking Castiel next time he was around if he knew anything.

Then there was mom and dad. After all this time, she still felt so guilty for their deaths. She hadn't even opened her copy of The Hobbit since she left the hospital for the last time, unable to cope with the memories it would bring back. She had lost them, all over some stupid series of events that should have never happened. Even having killed the drunk driver, Charlie still didn't feel any resolution in her heart. If anything, Dark Charlie's actions made it worse. Even that asshole had a life and people who loved him, and she felt bad for killing him and causing all those people to feel like she did. They never did anything wrong to deserve it.

"Charlie?" Rowena asked, drawing her from her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she replied, her voice shakier than she expected.

Rowena stood up and walked over to where she was sitting and Charlie's gaze rose to meet her. The witch brought a finger to Charlie's cheek and wiped away a tear that had slipped from her watery eyes, which she had not noticed until that moment.

"What is it?" Rowena asked calmly. Charlie couldn't speak, she just shook her head. She closed her eyes for a few moments to try and compose herself, and when she had everything mostly under control, she opened them back up. Rowena was still standing there awkwardly, unaware of what to do. Charlie needed some sort of comfort, and Rowena was the only one there.

Charlie stood up and hugged her. It was clear the witch wasn't going to take the initiative, and sometimes she just wanted someone to hold on to. Rowena was warm and somewhat receptive after she got through the initial confusion, holding on softly with her arms loosely wrapped around Charlie. It was unexpectedly comforting, and helped bring Charlie's thoughts and emotions back down to a controlled level. She didn't think that after all this time she would still get worked up over her parents' deaths, but it seemed like that would be something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

It was almost tempting to remain in the embrace a little longer, but when she was okay Charlie stepped back and the witch let her arms drop, the small moment between them having passed. She was greatful for the support, even though it was coming from Rowena. For some reason, that fact carried less weight than it use to.

"I think I'm going to sleep," Charlie said, plucking her tablet off the table. "Did that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Much of it, yes," Rowena replied simply. Charlie made her way to the room she had so reluctantly called her own, pausing briefly in the doorway.

"Celeste," she said simply.

"I beg your pardon?"

"My real name. It's Celeste," Charlie said, offering one last small smile before retreating fully into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you for sticking with me even though I've been on hiatus for a little while. I've been devoting all my time to the pirate AU (And a few works for other fandoms shhhh) which is looking quite nice. I plan on posting it in its entirety when it is done, so look out for that and be excited!
> 
> That being said, no, I have not abandoned this fic! Thank you for those of you who requested new chapters, that really gets me to pick something up and actually have the motivation to hash things out. I really do value everyone's feedback and when people are excited for new chapters, I get excited for new chapters, so please, drop me some comments if you like what I'm doing here. It means a lot to me.
> 
> We'll get to some more exciting bits soon, promise! Just bear with me guys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for bearing with be guys! It's been a very tough and busy semester, but it is almost over. Without further ado, here's another chapter! Things are hopefully going to start picking up from here on out.

It was a week before Castiel arrived with the first ingredient. Charlie didn't ask how he found it, and he didn't offer an explanation. They both knew there wasn't time for that right now. He wasn't there more than ten minutes, but for some reason it broke Charlie out of the placid mindset she had adopted over the last few days. Her and Rowena had been doing nothing but watching movies and playing card games, and occassionally talking and sharing stories. It was easy to cast all thoughts of the spell and the Mark away, but now that part of the golden calf was sitting on the table the inevidable drew ever closer. After days of getting along, they were both on edge that morning.

Sam called around lunchtime, confirming that Castiel's find had made it to their little outpost safely. He gave instructions for further wardings just in case, which the two of them put up wordlessly. When asked what she wanted for dinner, Rowena only shrugged, so Charlie decided to order a pizza. The house was intact enough on the outside to not arise any debilitating suspicion from the delivery guy, so forty minutes later the two of them had their feet up on the table with an open pizza box between them. It had been a few moments since anyone said a word, but then Rowena broke the silence.

"Do you ever just sit back and think 'woah, how the hell did I get here?'" she asked, more pensive that anything. Charlie took another bite of her slice, stewing over the question for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess so," she nodded. "A part of me wants to believe I'm here for a reason, that fate guided me to this place to accomplish something. But there's another part that thinks that maybe life is a bit more random than I'd like to think,"

"You're closer with the second one," the witch replied. "The whole 'fate' thing is too easy to change to be real. I should know,"

"What do you mean?"

Rowena hesitated, and when Charlie turned to look at her she dropped her gaze to her lap. The woman chuckled before speaking. "You'll think it's ridiculous,"

"I want to know," Charlie told her. She didn't know whether to be worried or intrigued. Had Rowena somehow altered something major? Much of the witch's capabilities were still a mystery to   
her. What started as idle chatter now had her undivided attention.

"Remember the night I kissed you? You asked me why I did it and I told you something about sexual energy in spellwork," 

Charlie's brow furrowed. "Was that a lie?"

"Kind of," Rowena replied. "You can get energy from that, but it's not nearly as much as I would need for what I wanted to do. And I knew that. Do you remember how angry you were that night?"

Charlie thought back and tried to conjure that image in her mind. She remembered the pressure she was under, the constant pestering by Rowena and the clacking of those stupid bones. All of it was driving her mad, she was about to storm out when the whole thing happened.

"Yeah, you kept bothering me and I was about to leave until you did that,"

"Were you now?" Rowena's lips curled into a knowing smile. "Then I made a good choice,"

"What did you do?"

"You remember those bones you took away from me, right? Those are used for divination. Usually they can't tell you much, but they were picking up strong notes of misfortune from you. I cast them a few times and confirmed my suspicions. Charlie, I think you were suppose to die that night,"

"What?" Charlie asked in disbelief. What could have possibly happened in the short timespan she intended to leave for? She guessed any number of people could be after them right now;   
they were working some old, powerful magic after all. Of course since the building was warded and she rarely ever left, security wasn't really a normal concern. The only time Charlie left   
were for the brief trips across the street for coffee every now and then. She couldn't really remember where she had planned on going that night, she had just wanted to be anywhere else as quickly as possible, but it must have been significantly further if it would have led to her death.

"Someone must have been waiting to kill you," Rowena said. "They must not have been able to find you here because of all the warding. If you would have left, you probably would have died,"

It was a staggering piece of information to take in. She could be dead right now, and she didn't even know her life had been in danger in the first place. It was only because of Rowena that   
she was still alive. For some reason, the witch had saved her. Even back then.

"You saved me. Why?"

"You're welcome, by the way," Rowena prefaced her reply. "I saw potential in you that I didn't want to go to waste. You're a smart girl, Charlie. You could be the brightest witch of this age, if you let me teach you,"

"Oh god, you're really pulling out all the stops here," Charlie replied, the unintended Harry Potter reference tugging at her heart. Rowena was really trying hard to recruit her as an apprentice, past the point that Charlie would consider normal. Even back before they had started getting along, she saved her life. That wasn't something Rowena typically did. She must be really lonely, or just really determined to take her on as a student. Charlie was kind of flattered.

"Tell me, if we make it through this spell mostly unscathed, what are you going to do next? I know you've thought about this before, and your options are slim. Just consider it," Rowena asked. "I don't need an answer right now. But we might not have a lot of time left,"

Charlie knew that. If Castiel found the first ingredient, he'd find the other two. The spell would happen soon, and Charlie didn't know how to proceed afterward. It was important that she went with Rowena, but she hadn't decided yet on what grounds she'd present her companionship. The allure of witchcraft was strong, she had to admit. Magic had been a dream of hers since she was young, but she couldn't help but fear the overwhelming prevalence of harmful magic, especially with Rowena. She could agree under the condition that anything she learned would be harmless, but how would she know that the witch wouldn't try to coerce her into doing something she didn't want to? It was important to keep in mind how dangerous Rowena was. That was something that was easy to forget when she was chained up and powerless.

"I'll think about it," Charlie told her, and for days she did. Neither of them brought it up the rest of the week, and they continued on with their lives as normal. Castiel reported that they had found Oskar, but were leaving him be for now. Charlie debated telling this to Rowena, but she didn't want to break the routine they had fallen into just yet. The mental vacation was much   
needed, but two weeks later when Castiel arrived with a dusty paper bag they knew it was time to get on with it.

Charlie was a bundle of nerves as she helped Rowena set out the bowls for the spell. Sam was on the way, presumably with Oskar, and Castiel had just flown out to meet them. The only sound in the deteriorating house was the creaking floorboards as the two organized the table, each taking the time to let the full impact of the situation settle in. Once they finished setting up, Charlie brought over all her translation papers and the book to place at the head of the table where Rowena was standing.

"Here we go," Rowena took in a deep, steadying breath, hands flat on the table. She looked unprepared and stressed. Charlie stood next to her, feeling somewhat superfluous and completely helpless. The day had come, and despite everything, she still didn't feel ready.

"Yeah," Charlie replied. An uneasy feeling hung in her gut. The thoughts she'd been having about the spell since the beginning were only just now hitting full force, and she realised how dangerous this all really was. She looked over at Rowena. A confident expression and stiff form masked the fear and dread that shone through her eyes. Charlie could sense the same thing flowing through herself, causing the stress that had been present since the beginning to strengthen. Her fingers fidgeted with each other nervously before she decided to act. There was no reason they had to go through this alone.

Wordlessly, Charlie stepped in and wrapped her arms around the witch. For a moment there was no reaction, but then Rowena returned the embrace. There they stood, clinging to the only certainty left in their lives; the only constant in this mess of a spell they had both been unfortunate enough to take part in. Charlie didn't really notice how long it lasted, but when they finally pulled apart they didn't go very far.

Charlie got a good look at the witch's face now. The facade Rowena put up had faded; she looked worried and scared and there was nothing that could be done about it. This spell could do some bad things, things they couldn't even begin to imagine. It wasn't until that moment that she truly understood the risks they were taking. Charlie might have escaped death once, but this time she might not be as lucky. This could be the end, for both of them.

The longer they remained, the stronger the tension was between the two. Charlie considered saying something, but kept quiet. There weren't really any words, and they both knew that. Their silent understanding was the thread keeping them together, binding them to the moment in between the magnitude of the research and the madness of the spell. The brush of Rowena's fingertips on her shoulder was more reassuring than anything the witch could have said to her.

Charlie allowed herself to draw Rowena in, and she complied, watching with soft curiosity. Their gazes met for a brief moment before Charlie leaned in and pressed her lips to Rowena's, eyelids slipping shut. Everything about the kiss felt different this time; it was tender and sweet, and much less erratic. Charlie felt her nerves calming as she let herself relax and sink into Rowena's embrace. Sometimes she regretted her hasty decisions, but at that moment everything seemed a little more okay. She was a little better prepared to deal with the task at hand.

She broke the kiss in the end, and still Rowena didn't say anything. A smile tugged at the corner of Charlie's lips as she pulled away, and still the witch didn't respond. Merely set back to work, rearranging some of the bowls in an attempt to look occupied. Charlie knew the action wasn't necessary, and was sure Rowena knew she knew. In the end she was kind of happy the silence remained between the two of them; no need to make a big deal out of it. They had other things to focus on anyway.

Her point was emphasized as Castiel clamored in, slapping a matchbook on the table in front of the witch. He wasn't alone.

"Ugh, Crowley. What is he doing here?" Rowena asked, words rife with anger and annoyance.

"No need to cause a scene, mother," Crowley replied sarcastically.

The witch rolled her eyes. "Oh come now. You were always the one crying out for attention,"

"Save it for therapy,"

Charlie watched the two of them, remaining silent through the whole exchange. Nobody ever really told her much about Crowley, except that he was a demon and also kind of the King of Hell. That and Rowena's son, which she still found odd. Last week the witch had been hell-bent on killing Crowley, and there he was, helping them. Charlie was starting to better understand that bit about relative morality.

"Can we get on with this, please?" Castiel asked. His thin lips were pressed together, eyes narrowed at the impromptu little family reunion. Charlie couldn't help but agree; she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Wait a second," Charlie interrupted. "Where's Sam? And does Dean seriously still not know we're doing this?"

"There's been a―complication," Castiel muttered. Charlie crossed her arms and he avoided her gaze. After this spell they needed to sit down and sort themselves out, because those two were both being ridiculous. "The Styne family reappeared. They caused some problems, but Dean wiped them out. All of them," Castiel paused, letting out a sigh. "He's missing. Sam went to find him before he does something rash. So it is imperative that we get this done now,"

"I'll bring the young lad in. But first―"

Rowena cut him off. "Nobody cares Fergus, let's just get this all over with," she snapped. He glared at her before closing his mouth, holding his words in favor of continuing with the proceedings. Charlie saw Rowena pick up a fountain pen from the table and start fiddling absently with it while they all waited. When Crowley returned, a blonde man that couldn't be more than twenty six was trailling behind him wearing a confused expression.

"You know, I think this is poetic justice," Crowley mused.

"Oh please. Were you always so melodramatic?"

"No, but you were certainly always this cruel,"

"I rest my case," Rowena scoffed, all malice draining from her tone as she turned to address the boy. "Oh Oskar, It's been so long. You've grown so big,"  
Oskar smiled as he approached her. "Rowena, it's great to see you. Is everything okay?"

"Of course it is, now come give auntie Rowena a hug," They embraced, but Charlie couldn't bring herself to smile at the quasi happy reunion. She knew what was coming next, and it wasn't something she was proud to witness and allow. Oskar was an innocent man, caught in a bad situation. All of them were stuck in a bad situation. From what she'd seen, it was typically the way this kind of life went.

"Everything's going to be okay," Rowena's voice faultered for a moment. "I'm sorry, my wee boy,"

Charlie saw the hand go up but looked immediately away. After a few moments she could hear the boy choking, his blood spurting into the little metal bowl she herself had placed on the table not twenty minutes ago. The body hit the floor with a thud and Rowena's trembling, angry voice filled the silence of the room as she performed the spell.

"Ab manu dei...Ab manu hominis," she said before tossing in some of the ingredients. "Ab cruore cordis Mei adfusuro in aeternum. Tolle maledictionem tuam ab hoc viro." Rowena continued, the anguish showing through her tone as she got louder and louder. She threw the last ingredient, a lock of Dean's hair, into the bowl, and immediately Charlie could feel this inexplicable energy crackling through the air. Some force knocked her back and what looked like a thick bolt of blue electricity shot up through the ceiling, the room falling into a stunned silence. It took a moment for Charlie to process it all, the residue from the spell hanging uneasy in the air. They were alive.

A click and the clanking of chains and metal as it hit the ground drew Charlie's attention to the witch, who had gathered the book, codex, and her translation notes in her arms. She wore a devious grin. "Manete!" Rowena said, and Charlie's whole body froze up. No matter what she did, she could seem to move, and neither could Castiel or Crowley. Panic set in as she found against the invisible restraints, and she worried ghat she had been tricked by the witch.

"Impossible. You're not strong enough," Crowley managed. Rowena snickered.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself Fergus," she turned her attention to Charlie. "I'm afraid I can't give you any more time to choose. What will it be, Charlie?"

She waited a moment before answering, but her mind was already made up. "I'm coming,"

Rowena smiled and waved her hand in Charlie's direction, and the constraining force suddenly dissipated. The look she had earned from Castiel sent a wave of shame through her, and she cast her eyes aside. "Excellent choice. Anyway, we must be going. Places to be, things to do, you know how it is," she pointed at Castiel. "Impetus bestiarum."

The angel seized up and instantly Charlie was concerned.

"What was that?" She demanded.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just charming him to take out that one," she guestured at Crowley. "No harm to your little angel friend. It's a diversion, and a useful one at that."

Charlie hesitated. The spell Rowena used was a foreign concept to her, and there was no way to determine whether or not her words were true. Castiel's eyes were bloodshot and he looked   
enraged, but other than that there weren't any other noticable differences. But still Charlie was worried. She didn't like it when people messed with her friends.

"No. Undo it, or I'm staying with them," she demanded.

"You're pressing your luck, girlie," Rowena gritted her teeth. She was clearly displeased. "I'll give you this one, but when we get to where we are going we're going to have a serious talk about our little arrangement. Desiste, adlevo onus tuum."

Castiel's body went limp, but seeing as the immobilization spell was still in effect, he didn't really go anywhere. He blinked a few times, and appeared very confused, but it looked like he was okay. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and slung her bag against her shoulder, joining Rowena by the door. She couldn't stand to look back at the angel as they left. It felt too much like betrayal, even though she knew Sam would fill him in later. This move was a strategic one, she kept on telling herself. Castiel would understand. They wouldn't lose contact and they were all   
going to deal with whatever they just caused, together.

The door closed behind Charlie and they took their first real steps back into the world.


End file.
